Events

Advances in the technology have revolutionized communication and commerce, which in turn have challenged our social, legal, and cultural practices and policies. Given the deluge of ambient and invited information streams in our lives, a key challenge each of us faces daily is who and what to trust. Trust is not a technical issue, but organizations, businesses, and governments are leveraging technology to both strengthen and undermine people’s trust. This digital manipulation has generated considerable interest in the use of blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies to authenticate information sources and transactions. The blockchain application that has garnered the most attention are the various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, however, publishers, governments, corporations, artists, and archives are investigating blockchain technology for primacy and authenticity purposes. Potential applications range from verifying electronic medical records to insuring primacy in the exchange of public and private digital assets. Although there is no shortage of ideas for using blockchain, these new applications raise many theoretical and practical questions. More information…